Central African Republic

The Central African Republic uses the Central African CFA franc, issued by the BEAC and pegged to the euro. In 2022 it did something no other member of a currency union has attempted.

The bitcoin episode

In April 2022 the CAR made bitcoin legal tender, becoming the second country to do so after El Salvador, and launched a related token project. It was the poorest country in the world by some measures, with very low electricity access and internet penetration in the low single digits.

The response from the monetary authorities was immediate. The BEAC and the regional banking supervisor rejected the move, pointing out that a member of a monetary union cannot unilaterally introduce a second legal tender — the currency is issued by a shared central bank under a treaty, and one member cannot alter the monetary framework for itself.

The law was repealed in 2023, and the associated project did not achieve meaningful adoption.

What it demonstrates

Two things, both of which apply well beyond this case:

• Legal tender status does not create usage. El Salvador's better-resourced attempt saw low adoption; a country with almost no electricity or connectivity was never going to see any. A currency is used because people find it useful, not because a statute names it.
• Monetary sovereignty inside a union is not individual. The CAR could pass a law; it could not change the money, because the money belongs to the treaty and the institution behind it. Mali's experience with the BCEAO makes the same point from a different direction.

Practical conditions

Banking infrastructure is minimal, security conditions are difficult, and most international brokers restrict clients here. There is no framework licensing retail CFD brokers and no local recourse.

Cautions

Countries associated with crypto announcements attract promoters. A guaranteed return is not a trading result.